The 155th Session of the CA Annual Conference
By Dr. Annette Shelton, Bethel AME Church San Francisco, Public Relations
In a flurry of white and rhythmic strut under the anointed leadership of Bishop Clement W. Fugh and Supervisor Alexia Butler Fugh, the 155th Session of the California Annual Conference began with the theme for the 5th Episcopal District Series of Annual Conferences, “Kingdomtide! Season of Growth: Concentration of the Local Church.” It was held September 4-8, 2019, and was hosted by Bethel AME Church in San Francisco, where the Rev. Robert R. Shaw, II is the senior pastor.
On September 4, the Women in Ministry kicked off the five-day event with a Prophetic Seminar by Dr. Rosalynn Brookins, while that night the Women’s Missionary Society held their Night in White worship service. The Rev. Ann Champion Shaw, the assistant pastor of Bethel AME Church in San Francisco, brought the word and several ladies from local churches were officially pinned into the Missionary Society by Supervisor Fugh.
Held at the Hilton Oakland Airport, Bishop Fugh led the week’s conference of meetings and worship services. Other conference leadership included the host presiding elder, the Rev. Cedric and Lady Veronica Alexander and Presiding Elder Booker T. and Lady Mary Guyton.
During the Opening Worship service, the former speaker of the California Assembly and former mayor of San Francisco, Willie L. Brown, Jr., made an appearance. A powerful annual sermon was delivered by the Rev. Harold R. Mayberry, which was entitled “The Lord Always Shows Up on Time!” The night concluded with a posh reception on the patio.
The Annual Conference Reports came out of the season of Pentecost, with the scriptural foundation of Acts 2:17-18, 21. Bishop Fugh gave the directive that during the 2019 Series of Annual Conferences, we will declare the faithfulness of God to his promise and our obedience to His commission “that we prophesy,” by ringing out the number of conversions and accessions for the Kingdom of God. The bell would ring those added to the work of ministry. If by chance your work planted seeds but had not yet brought forth a harvest, Bishop Fugh would ask if the church had experienced a miracle, sign, or wonder and then ring the bell for the evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
On Friday, the Lay Night featured the Rev. Casey Marshall, who spoke about reaching out and building up young adults. On Saturday, the YPDers opened their worship service with a scene from the movie, Sister Act, including the song “Joyful Noise.” It was a big hit. After service, “The Crew,” the name Bishop Fugh affectionately calls the YPDers, “flossed” and “milly rocked” in a silent disco, where everyone wore headphones and listened to music from a choice of three channels.
With various dignitaries in attendance and the multitude of activities, the “talk” of the Conference was a small, black tablet. “We were able to bless the Conference registrants with the Amazon Fire tablet,” said the Rev. Shaw. YPDers, 13 years old and up were overwhelmingly excited as they received a “real” tablet.
The tablets were uploaded with documents for the worship services, a souvenir journal, and a welcome video from Bethel. “As part of Silicon Valley, we are trying to be a church of technology by saving the trees and cutting down on paper,” says Rev. Shaw. “We do have a church app for the entire AME Church so it’s good to know the Church is beginning to move in that direction and we’d like for Bethel Church and the California Conference to be a part of that wave.”
The California Conference concluded on Sunday at Parks Chapel AME Church in Oakland, where Dr. Rosalynn Brookins is the senior pastor. We were blessed with the powerful preaching of Bishop Gregory G.M. Ingram, the presiding prelate of the 1st Episcopal District, whose sermon was entitled, “Don’t Let Jesus Leave the Church!” Truly,
Jesus has not left the California Conference as we continue to look to God and follow divine leadership for the next conference year.
